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This lemon raspberry bundt cake gets even better with raspberries, lemon zest and a lemon glaze poured over it. It’s super moist and is the only pound cake recipe I use. This lemon raspberry bundt cake recipe is THE cake to make this summer!
When I first started this blog, I started with a simple pound cake recipe that I have made at a local culinary school.
It was sheer perfection and I felt I had to tell the world about it. It was then that I decided to start this blog. That was back in 2011, with this Lemon Sour Cream Pound Cake Recipe.
Fast forward to 2020, with a cookbook to my name, and about 500 recipes on the blog I keep coming back to this recipe.
I love changing it up in so many ways. And have countless times. I have made just a lemon pound cake version, a grapefruit pound cake and a strawberry pound cake version.
Today raspberries are going to shine in this beloved bundt cake recipe. I mean raspberries and lemon. You just know that’s going to be good.
Why Is It Called A Pound Cake?
You might think it’s because it makes you put on a pound or two. And sure that could be true. But it’s actually because the original pound cake recipe was made with a pound of 4 ingredients- a pound of butter, pound of eggs, pound of flour, and a pound of sugar.
I’m not actually sure then this is a true “pound cake” based on those measurements, but it is in texture and flavor. Buttery, tender crumb, light and delicate all at the same time.
What’s The Difference Between A Sponge Cake and Pound Cake?
The two major types of cake are shortened or butter cakes, like a pound cake, and and foam or sponge cakes. Sponge or foam cakes rely on air being whipped into the eggs to help the cake rise once its in the oven. In a sponge cake, the whole egg is whisked with sugar over a double boiler and then whipped on high speed in your mixer to incorporate the air.
With a pound cake, like this recipe the butter and sugar are creamed together and the sifted dry ingredients together.
Ingredients Needed:
- Dry Ingredients: Flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda
- Wet ingredients: Unsalted butter, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream (or greek yogurt)
- Mix-ins: Fresh raspberries (or frozen – do not thaw)
- Glaze: Powdered sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla
How To Make This Lemon Raspberry Bundt Cake
You want to start by sifting your dry ingredients together. Sifting, I know, can be a pain. But it does help to evenly mix your dry ingredients and help aerate the mixture creating a light fluffy cake. So stop whining, grab the sifter and get to sifting.
In a small bowl, you want to zest your lemon. And stir in the sour cream and vanilla extract.
Then you want to cream together your butter and sugar. Then add in your eggs one at a time until they are thoroughly mixed in.
Then alternate the sour cream mixture and your dry ingredients. You want to start with the dry ingredients and end with the dry ingredients. I add the dry ingredients in 3 batches, and the sour cream mixture in 2 batches.
And then go ahead and fold in your raspberries. Be gentle!
Then go ahead and spray your bundt cake pan. You want to wait and do this at the end. The non stick cooking spray can slip down the sides of the bundt pan if its done too early. And then go ahead and spoon the batter into the pan and bake for about 50 minutes in a preheated oven.
Tips On Greasing The Bundt Pan
All those beautiful edges can be a real nightmare for getting your cake out. A few tips:
- Grease and flour your pan right before filling. The longer the coating sits the more it has a tendency to slide down the sides.
- Grease and flour it properly and thoroughly. I like to place plastic wrap over the pan and shake the flour around. You can read about how to grease your bundt pan here.
- Use cake release. It’s magical stuff and easy to make it yourself. Your cake will just slide right out.
Recipe Tips
- Careful when zesting. When zesting the citrus, make sure to go only down to the white pith layer. The white pith layer is bitter so you want to make sure to not zest this layer, just the outer layer.
- Soften Your Butter. You want properly softened butter so that you can cream mixture properly. The sugar punches holes into the butter creating air pockets, which helps to aerate and help the cake to rise. Here are 3 quick ways to soften your butter.
- Bring your eggs to room temperature. You don’t want cold eggs being added to your creamed butter mixture. It will seize up the butter. So place your eggs in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes before using them.
- Test For Doneness: To test when lemon raspberry cake is done, I like to use a long wooden skewer to insert into the cake and see if there are moist crumbs that cling to it. My biggest worry is overbaking it. So making sure my oven temperature is running correctly, I can then set my timer and check it with the skewer to ensure it’s done properly and not overbaked.
Recipe FAQ’s
Yes I have used both and they are delicious.
Yes, just don’t thaw them first or they will release too much liquid. Just stir them in gently.
This can happen if it cooks too fast, creating a crust on the outside leaving the middle uncooked. This could mean your oven temperature is too high. Do yourself a favor and get an oven thermometer to double check the accuracy of your oven.Â
This usually means the cake is not done. Again, do yourself a favor and check that oven temperature. And be sure to not peek during the baking process! Keep that oven door closed.
Yes you can freeze the cake for up to 3 months. I like to slice it up first and then freeze individual wrapped slices or place them in sealable bag. Thaw any cake at room temperature before serving.
I like to keep mine covered at room temperature for up to 2 days.
More Recipes To Try
Lemon Raspberry Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups (300 g) all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest (1-2 lemons)
- 1 cup (227 g) sour cream (or greek yogurt)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (2 sticks, 227 g) unsalted butter softened
- 2 1/4 cups (443 g) granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 2 cups (240 g) fresh raspberries (or frozen – do not thaw)
For the Lemon Glaze
- 1 1/2 cups (170 g) confectioner's sugar
- 3-4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest optional
Instructions
- Prepare oven. Position oven rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C) degrees
- Combine dry ingredients. Sift dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.
- Make sour cream mixture. In another bowl, combine lemon zest, vanilla extract and sour cream.
- Cream butter and sugar. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the mixing bowl well after each addition and mix until blended.
- Combine wet and dry. Add dry and wet ingredients alternately to butter-sugar-egg mixture until uniformly incorporated- do not overmix. Fold in raspberries.
- Grease bundt pan. Grease and flour one bundt cake pan. Pour batter into pan. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees oven for approximately 50-55 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick or skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for about 10 minutes before inverting out onto cooling rack. Allow to cool before glazing.
- Make the glaze. Mix all ingredients until smooth. Adjust consistency if needed. Pour over top of the cooled bundt cake and serve. For a thicker glaze use less lemon juice.
Notes
- Sour cream: I’ve used plain Greek yogurt as well and it works great!
- Raspberries: If using frozen raspberries, do not thaw first.Â
- Make ahead: This cake can be made and stored, covered, at room temperature for up to 2 days. I like to cover with plastic wrap to keep from drying out and then will store in a closed cake container.
- Freezing: Yes you can freeze the cake for up to 3 months. I like to slice it up first and then freeze individual wrapped slices or place them in sealable bag. Thaw any cake at room temperature before serving.Â
Cosmic says
Well I just finished having my first piece of this Lemon Raspberry deliciousness for breakfast and wow it’s pretty fantastic! The way the Lemon and Raspberry jive together is a happy dance in my mouth! I made it to recipe but used fresh raspberries that I had just frozen a day ago because I wasn’t sure what to do with them. Ill be honest when I folded the frozen raspberries into my batter I got a little nervous because my batter stiffened up and I thought that all of my hard work I had just put into creaming my butter and sugar went down the kitchen sink. However as I find myself forking every last crumb off my plate I know that it didn’t damage my final outcome. Now I just hope that I have the strength to not make this Lemon Raspberry Pound Cake my lunch and dinner as well!!! Bake time was right at 51 minutes for me. My oven usually bakes a little quicker so I started checking at 45 mins. I imagine in my last oven it would have gone 60-65 minutes.
Excited to share with my friends and family today! Thank you for sharing a wonderful recipe that Ill definitely be adding to my recipe book!
Question for you. Have you played around with the amount of eggs in your batter? Or adjusting egg white/yolk ratio? I’m just curious. Something in me is wanting to throw another egg or two into the recipe. Thoughts?
Heather says
I’m so glad you loved this recipe! It’s one of my favorites!! I haven’t played around with the eggs – I found the # of eggs to be perfect 🙂
Diane says
This recipe sounds wonderful, but I am wondering if it can be made with less sugar, or perhaps substitute Stevia for the sugar.
Heather says
Hi Diane, you might be able to get way with reducing the sugar by a little bit maybe 1/4 to 1/3 cup. I don’t recommend reducing more, as sugar not only sweetens but more importantly tenderizes the cake. So the more you reduce the sugar the tougher the cake might be in the end. And I’m not familiar with baking with stevia, so can’t say for sure. But if you try let me know how it turns out!
Raleigh Lizzie says
I heart lemon. Just amazing the way my cake smells.
Heather says
Me too!! Glad you loved the recipe Raleigh!!
Roseline Glutenery says
Who wouldn’t love this delicious recipe?
Heather says
aw thank you!
Joanne Hughes says
Made this for the kids… And yes they all loved it.
Thank you.
Heather says
aw fantastic Joanne – glad you and the kids all loved it!
Jasper Gilbert says
Love this cake. My family devoured it lol, will def make again 🙂
Heather says
aw that’s awesome Jasper glad to hear!!
Erica Maldonado says
Hello My daughter made this cake for her livestock entry and got a red rosette!! It’s so delicious!!
Anita says
What size bundt pan or loaf pans?
Heather says
Hi Anita! A standard bundt pan is 10 inches. Loaf pans are 9×5 inches.
Dannii says
Lemon and raspberry is such a delicious combination and this looks amazing.
Heather says
Thanks Danni!
Mirlene says
This cake look absolutely beautiful. I cannot wait to try it.
Heather says
Thanks Mirlene 🙂
Michelle says
Lemon raspberry is my favourite! This bundt cake was delicious — thanks for sharing your tips on how to make it!
Heather says
Thanks Michelle! You’re welcome 🙂
Michelle says
This is such a delicious bundt cake! Loved the flavours of the lemon and raspberry!
Heather says
Thanks Michelle! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Jenny says
I love that this pound cake is buttery and moist and not too sweet. The lemon raspberry combination is so good!
Heather says
Thank you Jenny! Couldn’t agree more!
Taylor Kiser says
I’m all over anything with lemon and raspberries! This lemon raspberry bundt cake will be the star of our dessert table for summer cookouts!
Heather says
Me too Taylor! And yes I agree perfect for summer cookouts!